The Show Elements

To achieve many different visual effects, the light show makes uses several styles and configurations of lights. The pixel lights unsed in the display can produce any color or pattern and are grouped together in elements. This includes the arches, MegaTree, house outline, spinners, snowflakes, candycanes, talking bulb, and stars. I will go into more detail about the construction and design of some of element below.

 

Arches

The arches are made out of 1/2" PVC pipe. An 8 foot section is bent in the shape of an arch and then held in place with two separate 5 foot pieces on the bottom. The light strips are attached to the PVC using zip ties. They are then covered with a tube of dryer duct to help diffuse the light and give a better overall effect. The arches are all connected in series with a single controller powering the whole line. Each end of an arch receives a power connection from the nearby power supply to ensure no lights are dim. The last step is to secure them upright which is done with a PVC T-joint and some smaller lenghts of pipe on the ground.

MegaTree

The MegaTree is the largest and most complex element of the display. It is comprised of about 750 lights in 16 strips. The center of the tree is supported by a piece of steel conduit. The rounded base is made of a piece of 1/2" PVC shaped into an arch. At the top of the tree is a wooden disk with 16 individual holes drilled out for the light strips to hook into.

Each strand receives a power connection from both the top and bottom to ensure all the lights reach full intensity. The tree is powered by 4 separate controllers each controlling 4 strands. There is also a dedicated power supply for the tree and star on top. All of the electronics are housed in a waterproof enclosure below the tree.

The tree stands on a base made of two by fours with a hole drilled in the center for the supporting pole. This tree is only 180 degrees around since it is only meant to be viewed from the front, but it is possible to expand it to the full 360 degree circle.

 

The House Outline

The elements that outline the house, roof line, and driveway are the easiest to make since they are straight lines. Each segment is made out of either 1/2" PVC pipe or 1/2" conduit. The LED strips are then attached along the length with zip ties. This is a very fast and easy way to make perfectly straight lines. The segments are also easy to install and remove since everything is attached together.

Mounting the strips to the house is very important as you want them to be held in place firmly but also easily removable at the end of the season. I used a method of PVC clamps and conical wall anchors. Holiday Coro has a great tutorial on how to do this.

Pixel Stars

There are several pixel stars positioned around the house and an additional one above the MegaTree. The hosue stars and tree stars are very different in their design.

The star above the tree is made out of a piece of MDF cut into a star shape. From there, 3 sets of holes for concentric stars are drilled into it. The inner star has 10 pixels, the middle star has 30, and the outer star has 50 pixels. The holes are drilled to be just slightly larger than the diameter of a pixel node. This allows them to be inserted and secured with no glue. All 3 stars are wired together in a single strand.

The stars positioned on the house and in the bushes are a bit simpler. They use pixel strips and wood for their frame. Each 5-point star has 10 segments nailed together at the corners. A single strand of pixel strips is then bent and zip tied into the form of the star.

Additional Props

Throughout the yard, there are several props made out of corrugated plastic. This includes snowflakes, candy canes, spinning wreaths, a talking lightbulb, and smal trees. These elements are made by punching small holes in the plastic material and inserting lights to make the desired shape. Many designs are available from Boscoyo Studio which is where I bought bost of mine.